John Masters

Living in the city by the bay has all the positive points you could imagine. Born and raised in the historic city of Saint Augustine Florida, impressive or not, I had to leave when I was younger, to see what was out there. Thirty years later I moved back home to my city by the bay, and it is still a beautiful place. The charming and beautiful parts of the city are still there. One just has to look a little closer to see it these days. The population has grown more than six times its original size in post pandemic times, which has rubbed some of the charm off. Tarnished by population growth and the changes to how one experiences the city because of the new owners who have different perspectives of ownership, openness, sharing views and access. So, the charm is still there, it just sometimes seems out of reach.

But I am here to talk about boats. I personally have never owned a boat even though I have lived next to the water most of my life. I have always just been in other people’s boats, friends, family and so on. I do not love the super fancy craft that now are the norm here, but rather the small craft. The type of boats that are for pure pleasure, fishing, navigating the small channels and cheap freedom. I also like the fishing trawlers, which are a rare site here these days, and of course the working boats. I like sail boats of any kind, more weight on the sunfish, catamaran, and the less expensive lot. These small boats remind me of the past when most boats in this city by the bay were working men’s pleasure craft, working boats, or modest cruisers that could go further out.

Nothing stays the same, time marches on and all I know is if you look hard enough, those bay boats still exist. Tucked away in corners of the shoreline, just out of sight. Bay boats patiently await their next trip into the bay.